What’s next for our datacenter?

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You will have noticed that we got into a bit of a slip in our schedule and nothing has changed in the datacenter or on the web in the last few days. So what is ahead of us in the next few days and where is the problem?

On Monday 13.9.2010 we will launch a revolutionary offer of web hosting and domain registration. The starting offer will be under conditions that are unprecedented and no one in the Czech Republic has ever offered anything similar.

Part of the services will already run from our datacenter, over our connectivity and from our servers (so far DELL, but once FUJITSU arrives, we will have FUJITSU for everything – from rack cabinets to routers to powerful servers for VPS to disk arrays). Since in the first phase we will be running only “a few servers” in our WEDOS datacenter, they will run only from the UPS, which should be able to run dozens of servers for about 2 hours. Our datacentre is about 3km from the largest substation in South Bohemia, so a longer outage (which can happen of course) is very unlikely. We will take this uncertainty into account in the price of the services we offer.

The datacentre construction has been delayed a bit as we are waiting for the installation of the SHZ (FM200 gas fire suppression system) into our WEDOS datacentre. Once this installation is complete, the air conditioners (already in place and just need to connect the pipes and install the units on the roof), a large UPS (for at least a thousand servers) and a motor generator will be next. Next steps will follow (second and another UPS in n+1 configuration), a large motor-generator and another UPS and a second large motor-generator…

As soon as the firefighting is done (we have to wait, because it is a big hit to the space both under the floor and above the floor), we will bring FUJITSU rack cabinets (very nice and above all incredibly practical and functional) and start offering VPS and server hosting services. We will also publish the offer of server hosting services on Monday 13.9.2010. Our offer of FUJITSU VPS, dedicated servers will be so interesting that it will be worth waiting to order services from us. You’ll see in just a few hours.

A little later we will start serverhousing, because we will still be dealing with datacenter security and access system for customers. The offer will also be published on 13.9.2010.

So the current delay is due to waiting for installation at SHZ and we are still waiting for a power increase from an unnamed power company. In view of this, we decided to take an intermediate step (for maximum speed) and install a smaller motor-generator at the end of September and the beginning of October, which can run about 1000 servers (and the corresponding cooling). The large motor-generator will be placed behind the building and must be sufficiently soundproofed and, due to its weight, must also be well stored and we also need permission and testing from the health inspectors to run it. For this reason, it will be later than we originally planned, so we will purchase a temporary and smaller solution that will be sufficient for the start of the service and for the first year or so of operation.

We will publish the next steps again maybe next time. We believe you will be pleasantly surprised.